Le Basketbawl

New York Knicks guard Toney Douglas had a decent campaign his rookie season as he averaged 8.6 points and 2.0 assists per game. Unfortunately the same can not be said for his club as they would limp into the end of the regular season last spring with a 29-53 mark.

That was a different team however in a lot of ways as the Knicks have undergone a drastic “Make-Over“ over the summer and the team that will take the hardwood this year for the Blue And Orange will be a much different bunch than last year’s squad. For the first time in a long time it looks like Knicks fans will have something else to enjoy during Knicks games besides the dance team if you catch New York Vinnie’s drift.

Douglas spoke with the “New York Post” and told the paper that he has much higher expectations both for himself and the team in the upcoming season. As far as what he is looking to accomplish on the self-improvement side the second year player said “I had an OK rookie year, but this year I want to be more vocal and be one of the leaders on the court. At the same time, you can’t be a leader if you don’t hold up your end of the bargain. If people are slacking, I’ll tell them. If I’m slacking, I want them to tell me.”

As New York Vinnie wrote earlier “MY BOYS” have gone through some major changes personnel wise this summer. Of course the big catch was Free Agent Amar’e Stoudemire, but they also added lots of other quality players during the off-season. Raymond Felton, Rony Turiaf , Anthony Randolph, Kelena Azubuike and Roger Mason all make this a much more well rounded team than last year’s squad.

Douglas was asked by reporters if he thought that this year’s edition could make the Post Season in the Eastern Conference. Douglas replied “Definitely. I feel like we have a lot of talent. We just all have to be on one page and make sure everybody is totally on it. I feel we are a playoff team. We’re just building relationships now. It’s almost a totally new team. I’ve been working on the pick and roll with Amar’e. So there’ll be a better bond when training camp starts.”

After a lot of years of wandering around the desert, this season Knicks fans may actually have something to do in late April besides watching other teams besides our own playing in the NBA Post Season. A winning basketball team always seems to make the winter go by quicker and seem a lot less harsh. Let’s hope that will be the case this year for the “Greatest City To Ever Exist On The Planet, New York City.”

© Copyright NYVT Productions

The upcoming NBA season is going to be an extremely important year for New York Knicks center Eddy Curry as this will be the last year of the deal that he signed with former Team President Isiah Thomas. When this season is over he becomes an unrestricted Free Agent who is coming off two straight years in which he barely played at all.  ”Big Fat Eddy Curry” played in just three games during 2008-2009 and just seven more this past season.  

Last year old “Tons Of Fun” came into Training Camp the size of the state of Delaware. He would soon be sent home and told by the team not to come back as long as he exceeded the weight capacity that an elevator could hold. He would return about a month later but played just 7 games as every time he got on the court he would get hurt.

Curry worked out with the team until July 14, when he went back to Chicago with the team’s permission for the birth of his baby. ”Big Fat Eddy Curry” has not been seen by “MY BOYS” since then. Curry was expected to make an appearance when the Knicks had a team in the Las Vegas Summer League last month. However the veteran did not even bother to show up to meet new additions to the club Amar’e Stoudemire and Anthony Randolph.

Now one would think that Big Fat Eddy Curry would be smart enough to make some sort of effort for two reasons. Number one as New York Vinnie wrote earlier; he is a Free Agent at the end of the season. If he intends on staying in the NBA after this season and wants any money at all this is the year he has to show it.

Number two in New York Vinnie’s opinion is more important; however Curry most likely does not see things this way. He has the chance to play next to one of the best players in this era Amar’e Stoudemire. If he gets into shape and is able to play the way he did back during the 2006-2007 season “MY BOYS” can truly be something special in the upcoming season.

Curry averaged 19.5 points and 7 rebounds per game that season his best in a New York uniform. Put that next to Stoudemire who averaged 23.1 points and 8.9 rebounds per game last season and you get an amazing front-court no matter who plays at the three!

 ”Big Fat Eddy Curry” is going to be making $11.2 million in the upcoming season. If he plays like he did the last two years he will be lucky to make the NBA next year and if he does it will be for the NBA veteran minimum. The old saying in the NBA is “You can’t teach size.” Well that  is true but you also can not teach being Frickin stupid either. Curry through the last few years has shown he has plenty of both!

© Copyright NYVT Productions

After years of struggling in the desert, it appears that the New York Knicks could be on the verge of prosperity according to recent reports from multiple sources. Earlier this summer New York Team President Donnie Walsh brought in an a bonafide NBA All-Star as the team signed former Phoenix Suns big man Amar’e Stoudemire to a long term deal. Since that point New York has made some other good moves signing Free Agents Raymond Felton and Roger Mason and engineering a sign and trade with the Golden State Warriors that got them Anthony Randolph and Ronny Turiaf.

Your Old Pal New York Vinnie has been quite pleased with the turn-over on “MY BOYS” so far but according to buzz throughout the NBA  there could be an even bigger move just over the horizon. With each passing day the rumors are getting stronger and stronger that Denver Nugget’s All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony could be on his way to Gotham.

According to reports the Nuggets have offered Anthony a three year extension as he becomes a Free Agent at the end of the upcoming season and he has refused the offer. Those same reports are saying that Denver will not allow Their forward to walk away for nothing  and will trade him this season. The deal that keeps coming up is the Nuggets trading their All-Star to New York  for “Big Fat Eddy Curry” and his contract that expires at the end of the year. How Frickin rich is that?

Saturday “The New York Daily News” reported that the new Mrs. Anthony; LaLa Vasquez that the couple believe that playing in the “Greatest City To Ever Exist On The Planet, New York City” is a viable reality. Vasquez told the paper “Us being in New York is a possibility. It depends on ‘Melo’s career and where it takes him. There’s a lot of talk about the Knicks, I mean, there’s a lot of teams out there, he’s a great player and I think collectively we just need to think about what makes sense for our family. But I would never say that being in New York is not an option, I’d be lying to you if I said that.”

Anthony’s bride was born and raised in Brooklyn and was a Knicks fanatic until she met her husband and started supporting the Nuggets. But Vasquez told the paper “‘Melo will tell you, and all the players will tell you no matter where their loyalty is, there aren’t many places like Madison Square Garden. They’ll all say that, and it’s nothing against their teams but there is a different energy in there, and you really can’t top that.”

New York Vinnie took a look  at the “Denver Post” on Saturday and was struck at how similar the tone was to the “Cleveland Plain Dealer“ just before they lost the “Un-Chosen One.” The columnists seemed to have an air that Anthony was gone; it was just a matter of where and when. Right now the Knicks seem to have the inside track.

New York Vinnie has been around the block far too many times to get overly excited  about a rumor. However if that trade does end up being consummated don’t be surprised if you hear a scream of joy from Queens all the way in Detroit!

© Copyright NYVT Productions

Just when you thought it was safe to watch “ESPN” again with all the big free agents now settling into their new homes, you are wrong. With rumors flying that Carmelo Anthony will be turning down the three-year, $65 million contract extension from the Denver Nuggets, ESPN is going wild with possible trade scenarios. And who are we to hold these ideas from our readers?

Here are the latest rumors courtesy of “ESPN and their NBA Trade Machine“.

1) ORLANDO MAGIC:
The first proposal is to trade Vince Carter for Melo straight up, but I can’t see how the Nuggets walk away with any hope from this one.
The second proposal would be to send Melo and Renaldo Balkman to Denver for Mickael Pietrus, Marcin Gortat and Brandon Bass. Again, I don’t think the Nuggets would go for this one. Trading a superstar for basically the Magic’s bench? Pass.

2) NEW ORLEANS HORNETS:

This proposal is a bit more interesting. The Hornets would send David West and Peja Stojakovic over to Denver for Melo and Chris Anderson. The Nuggets would end up with a strong power forward in West and a nice expiring contract in Peja, who would also be a nice role player coming off the bench for them this season. I can see Melo liking this deal because this would put him on the same squad as Chris Paul, that is until Paul becomes free agent in 2012, but perhaps the Hornets try to pull off this trade in order to keep Paul in New Orleans.

3) CHICAGO BULLS

Here we have the idea of sending Luol Deng, Taj Gibson and James Johnson for Melo. This works salary-wise, but if the Nuggets do agree to trade Melo, I don’t think Deng’s four-year, $51 million contract is one that they would take on in return, although here is a lot of upside in obtaining Gibson. But one would think again that the Nuggets would be after a star like Joakim Noah in return for their All Star.

4) NEW YORK KNICKS
Did you honestly think you were going to be able to read a post about a free agent and not have the Knicks mentioned? Funny thing is unlike the other free agents this summer, the Knicks actually have a good chance at landing Melo, whether it be this year through trade, or next year when he becomes a free agent. The most recent proposal idea from “Newsday“’s Alan Hahn has the Knicks sending out Eddy Curry, Danilo Gallinari and a future 1st round pick for Melo. This would be a bag of mixed emotions for Knicks fans. They would be thrilled to get a player like Melo on their team, but they will be losing crowd favorite and three point specialist Gallinari.

Phew, there’s enough ‘What If’s’ up there to make your head spin. The future of Carmelo Anthony lies in the hands of the Nuggets (for this at least this year). They could either hold on to Melo for the rest of this year and hope that the fear of a potential lock out finally scares him into signing the extension, or they could work feverishly going over every trade scenario to find the best deal when trading away a superstar to avoid what happened to the Cleveland Cavaliers this past summer.

The “New York Post” reported Thursday that the New York Knicks avoided a bullet as NBA Commissioner David Stern ruled that FIU head coach Isiah Thomas can not be employed by the Knicks as long as he is coaching at the college. The NBA Commissioner ruled that Thomas’ actions were creating a conflict of interests, and the Knicks would have to end the relationship.

Now one would think that Your Old Pal New York Vinnie would be dancing in the streets after hearing this news! However this could be just a temporary respite for “MY BOYS” as the prevailing attitude right now within the New York City NBA media is it is just a matter of time before Zeke gets back on board in a big way.

When you own the Frickin ball-club you make the Frickin rules. Unfortunately James “EL DOUCHE” Dolan is the Majority Team Owner of the Knicks and he calls all the shots. Now any normal person would see what has happened to New York Vinnie’s “Boys” in the two years since ‘The Reign Of Terror” ended and Thomas was fired. However no one ever said James Dolan was normal. 

We as fans have no re-course, what can we Frickin do? You can’t fire the Owner! You can not force him to sell the franchise! Unless the employee has broken some NBA guide-line you can not dictate who an Owner can hire! Face it: As Knicks fans we are in the Frickin Toilet!

Now we can only wish that some how Dolan is made to see the error of bringing back Isiah Thomas, because barring that we are in for a long bumpy road ahead!

© Copyright NYVT Productions

There are strange, there are obsessive and there are down-right Frickin Twisted acts that occur billions of time each day on this Planet that we all exist on. However New York Vinnie will outright challenge you to find a more lame-brained, half-witted bizarre act that took place this weekend that topped the Frickin Shenanigans that took place in the “Greatest City To Ever Exist On The Planet, New York City.”

Like “Freddy Krueger” reaching from beyond the Frickin grave, somehow he has returned. Sure the team is saying he is only an Frickin adviser right now, but New York Vinnie is telling you to take this the BANK! Isiah Thomas is back with the New York Knicks and this is only the first step in a long complex process that will put Zeke back in power.

We were finally starting to take off the gas masks; things truly looked like they were heading on the up and up. New York Team President Donnie Walsh had gotten the team back to “Sea-Level” and New York Vinnie’s “Boys” were bringing in legitimate All-Stars! Amar’e Stoudemire led the way, but players like Raymond Felton and the possible signing of Roger Mason Jr. should help.

Then the “New York Post” reported what we had been hearing in hushed tones for months. Something that any fan of the Blue And Orange has been praying would not come to pass, has happened. According to reports we may on the first step of the return of the “Reign Of Terror” as Zeke Thomas is back as an adviser with the New York Knicks.

New York Vinnie wants to know: Where the heck is the “Great And Powerful Stern” when the NBA needs him? Stern gets involved in all sorts of Crappolla that he has no business in; can’t he put the kabosh on this deal? Supposedly it was Stern that led Knicks Team Owner “EL DOUCHE” Dolan to Donnie Walsh in the first place. Could he not have stopped Thomas from getting back in the fold?

New York Vinnie is not a psychiatrist; nor do I play one on the World Wide Net. However it does not take Frickin Sigmund Freud to figure out that New York Team Owner James Dolan and Isiah Thomas have this Frickin Spooky Complex relationship going on. It reminds New York Vinnie of “Frickin Sid and Nancy“! We all know too well what happened to that ‘Gruesome Two-Some!” It is time to put an end to the NBA version of ”Sid And Nancy” before irreparable damage is done!

© Copyright NYVT Productions

Cousin Paulie was taking a nap and had a terrible dream that Isiah Thomas was back with the New York Knicks organization. After I was able to calm down, I turned on my computer, and almost fell right out of my chair. IT’S TRUE! ISIAH IS BACK!! I feel like this is a bad remake of a horror movie. Couldn’t they have waited until next week to announce this on Friday the 13th? Holy Mother Mary, this could be enough to send New York Vinnie right back to the hospital! We all know how much He just despises Zeke!

The “New York Post” is reporting The Knicks are about to announce Isiah Thomas will be named a part-time consultant to club but keeps his job at FIU. Why? Cousin Paulie is at a loss of words over this announcement. I want to know what is James Dolan and Donnie Walsh drinking lately, and where can he get a few bottles for himself, knowing that Isiah Thomas will have a say in his team’s player movements and acquisitions.

Just when our beloved Knicks seemed to be on the path to greatness, we get this unexpected announcement. The whole city of New York is going to have to renew their prescription for Xanax as the uncertainty of what Thomas is yet again bringing to the Knicks is upon us.

More news to come, but for now, Cousin Paulie needs to go for a jog and try to cope with this news. Until then, I wish everyone out there a good weekend, and try your best to avoid thinking about ex-Knicks players: Vin Baker, Jared Jeffries, Jerome James, Eddy Curry, Steve Francis, or Stephon Marbury because that will surely give you nightmares.